A semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as “wafer”) is united (mounted) with a ring frame via a mounting tape in view of the handleability thereof when subjected to various processes, in particular a dicing process. Here, a protective adhesive sheet is stuck on the device forming surface side of the wafer, the adhesive sheet being peeled off in a downstream process.
Patent document 1 discloses a sheet peeling apparatus for peeling off an adhesive sheet via a peeling tape in a state that a wafer is mounted on a ring frame.    [Patent document 1] WO97/08745